news & notes Summer 2008 APPLIED RESEARCH CENTER advancing racial justice through research, advocacy and journalism

Our Moment is Here: A Letter from the President and Executive Director, Rinku Sen

Lately, I want to do things that are 40th anniversary of Dr. Martin Luther King’s death, attracted 1,000 easy. By “easy things,” I mean projects people, even with minimal preparation and recruitment time. Green for that move organically because they so All acknowledges that everyone breathes, eats and drinks, but that a effectively tap into some essential human green economy can easily leave out the poorest and the brownest un- experience and aspiration that people less we actually shape it—a profoundly simple concept. come running. Having put more than Finally, the Transnational Institute for Grassroots Research and 20 years into racial justice work, I under- Action (TIGRA), founded by ARC board member Francis Calpotura, has stand that change can be slow, and I’ve built Million Dollar Clubs across the country. These Clubs consist of accepted that winning doesn’t always, or immigrants who use the money-transfer system to sustain their families even ever, mean that a fight has ended. back home. They aim to reform that system so that a portion of their During much of that time, I was slogging, remittances will be channeled into new funding for community-develop- trying to get people to focus on institu- ment projects both here and in their native countries. Their boycott of tional racism long enough to support the Western Union, from whom they demand lower fees and community changes that would end it. If I wanted a reinvestment, has attracted customers and shareholders alike. TIGRA movement, I thought I would have to build it one person at a time, one understands that love of family ties together transnational communities. issue at a time, one fight at a time. The money-transfer agencies understand that too, and the battle is on It was all meant to take a very, very long time. for who will get to keep and define the use of that wealth. Now I’m overwhelmed and excited about the things that seem to These efforts don’t reveal a way to work less—all the people move faster than anyone can explain. Three examples from ARC’s part- involved put in crazy hours and worry about many things. But they ners are revealing to me the beauty of simplicity. These pieces of work encompass a certain energy—a lack of slogging, an agility—that shows have enormous scope, and they encompass lots of complicated analy- how compelling they are, not just to us, but to most people. We’ve ses and strategies, but each is based on something that ties people been seeing that energy elsewhere too—in the massive immigration together in the most fundamental way. They occupy the intersection of marches of two years ago, in the unprecedented numbers of people race, culture and the economy. engaged in this election campaign, and in the opportunities the First, there’s the Restaurant Opportunities Center United (ROC- campaign gives us to put forth a racial analysis. As we head into an United). Saru Jayaraman and Fekkak Mamdouh, who founded ROC-NY economic nosedive that makes it harder to push for racial justice and after 9/11, are taking their idea national. Restaurants are perfect inclusion, speed is of the essence. focal points for social change. Virtually everybody relates to them. About five years ago, ARC board member Omowale Satterwhite told As public spaces, they create a community’s culture in which racial me, “You never know how close you are to victory.” He was talking about and gendered hierarchies currently prevail but don’t have to. They are having been in South Africa just before the fall of apartheid, which no the fastest growing sector of the service economy, the one that most one at the time knew was so near. That’s the moment we’re in. We need quickly bounces back after disasters like 9/11 and Hurricane Katrina. to be ready to move. The simpler we think, the faster we’ll be. ROC-United gets more calls from restaurant workers nationwide than they can handle, but they are surely trying to keep up. Then there’s Green for All, with whom we worked on the green economies issue of ColorLines. Van Jones, Majora Carter and their colleagues have identified the fastest-growing part of the industrial Rinku Sen economy. Their conference, the Dream Reborn, commemorating the President and Executive Director

race and public policy in the 21st century

The Applied Research Center (ARC) has released two report cards that evaluate California and Illinois on their 2007 support for legislation that would bridge racial divides and improve equity in health, educa- tion, income and other areas. One of ARC’s allies, the Organizing Apprenticeship Project (OAP), has released the Minnesota Legislative Report Card. All three report cards were designed to set a racial justice standard for legislation. With our nation’s changing demographics, it is essential that state leaders implement racially conscious public policies. ARC’s California, Minnesota and Illinois Legislative Report Cards reveal where and how racial equity poli- cies were undermined throughout the 2007 legislative process and underscore the growing need for state lawmakers to build legislation that puts an end to structural racism.

California In January 2008, ARC released Facing Race: California Legislative Report Card on Racial Equity 2007.

[Continued on page 3]

Applied Research Center 900 Alice Street, Suite 400, Oakland, CA 94607 PH: 510-653-3415 FAX: 510-986-1062 www.arc.org arc helps expand racial justice work in northeast states

This past year, ARC undertook a successful partnership with Northeast •  Citizen Action Group (CCAG) is working with other Action to boost racial justice organizing in several states. organizations to build support for racial equity and cultural inclu- ARC provided racial justice training in a year-long series of regional sion in statewide universal healthcare proposals. meetings convened by Northeast Action, which involved 40 leaders • Northeast Action held a regional conference in with from six states. The training sessions were supplemented by ongoing a strong racial justice theme, involving 200 activists and signifi- phone calls with several statewide organizations. cant attendance by people of color. ARC Executive Director Rinku Each state, as well as the regional organization, set up a team to Sen was a presenter for a provocative evening plenary and partici- facilitate addressing racial equity and included this issue in their cam- pated in a workshop on immigration issues. Northeast Action has paigns and communities. The learning and action process led to the made racial justice a priority in its new strategic plan. following new activities: The participating organizations have learned to make racial justice • Citizen Action of New York (CANY) focused their annual leader- an explicit and proactive part of their organizing campaigns, with an ship assembly on racial justice and invited ARC staff to lead a full emphasis on developing more people of color as leaders. At the end of day of training with 100 leaders. Afterwards, CANY’s state board the year, organizers and leaders involved in the process were enthusias- adopted a new policy requiring chapters and committees to use tic about their progress in institutionalizing new practices. a racial justice framing tool for assessing all issues, including “We understood what we needed to do, but didn’t know how to do educational equity, health access and clean elections. CANY has it,” said Ivette Luna, deputy director of OSA. also incorporated some of ARC’s curricula and has trained a dozen “Now we have the language we can use and the tools we can apply organizers to lead the training sessions. to get the work of racial justice done,” added Lisa Reynolds, chairper- •  People’s Alliance (MPA) hired a new organizer explicitly son of Health Care for All in Connecticut. assigned to racial justice work, expanded outreach efforts to ARC plans to continue its partnership with Northeast Action and communities of color and assisted a local American Indian tribe several statewide organizations across New England that are eager to in a successful campaign to remove derogatory language from translate their commitment to racial justice into new strategies to make public monuments. changes in the legislative and electoral arenas. • Ocean State Action (OSA) in Rhode Island participated in state- If you are interested in a strategic consultation, please contact wide coalition efforts to successfully defeat more than 20 anti- Terry Keleher at 312-376-8236 or [email protected]. immigrant legislative proposals.

ARC to Convene Racial Justice conference From November 13–15, as many as 1,000 leading and emerging upcoming events activists, scholars and journalists across the U.S. and beyond will gather for the 2008 Facing Race Conference at the Oakland, California Marriott July City Center to share strategies and solutions for advancing racial justice. 10-11 “Facing Race has become the ‘go-to’ place for racial justice activists to connect, learn from each other, strategize together and celebrate RJLI Training victories,” said conference coordinator Gina Acebo, “and this year’s Oakland, CA conference will be our biggest yet.” Aarti Shahani, co-founder and co- director of Families for Freedom, a multi-ethnic defense network by and for immigrants facing deportation, said “I wanted a space to go to, where november we could figure out how to build our political analysis in our movement.” 13-15 Facing Race 2008 will kick off with the keynote presentation by nov- Facing Race Conference elist, poet and screenwriter, Sherman Alexie. A Spokane/Coeur d’Alene Oakland, CA Indian, Alexie grew up on the Spokane Indian Reservation in Washington. In his lectures, he tells tales of contemporary American-Indian life laced with razor-sharp humor and unsettling candor. Alexie is a gifted orator

R oyce C arlton and won the World Heavyweight Championship Poetry Bout four con- secutive years, from 1998 to 2001. Alexie’s works have won numerous awards, most recently the National Book Award for his latest, The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, arc has opportunities a coming-of-age, interracial comedy for young adults based on his first year at an all-white high school. He also for internships and wrote and produced the feature filmSmoke Signals, which won the 1998 Sundance Film Festival Audience staff positions. Award and Filmmakers Trophy. Distinguished speakers and performers previously featured at the Facing Race conferences include novelist Check out www.arc.org. and social commentator Walter Mosley; talk show host Tavis Smiley; journalist Juan Gonzalez; Dr. Dorian Warren of Columbia University; environmental activist Winona LaDuke; immigration rights organizer Nunu Kidane; co- chair of United for Peace and Justice, Judith LeBlanc; executive director of the Drum Major Institute, Andrea Batista-Schlesinger; and Grammy-award winning Latin jazz artist Eddie Palmieri; among many others. Because of limited space and the overwhelming response to previous conferences, participants are encour- aged to register early. A discounted “Early Bird” registration is available until August 10, 2008. For conference information, visit ww.arc.org/facingrace or contact Gina Acebo at 510-653-3415 Check out our blog, or [email protected]. If you would like to donate to the Facing Race Scholarship Fund, contact RaceWire at Samantha Erskine, at 646-502-8842 or [email protected]. www.racewire.org

 Applied Research Center donate now! House’s particularly lacklus- ter support for legislation that Visit www.arc.org to make a tax-deductible could help mend the state’s contribution to the Applied Research Center. longstanding racial divide was the most troubling find- ing in the report. While the State Senate held steady with a grade of B, the House re- RACIAL JUSTICE Report cards ceived a grade of C, which is Continued from cover a decline from last year. This report card gives Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger a failing grade of “Illinois’ racial divide is F for his support of racial equity deepening and it is going to legislation because he signed only 59 percent of the racial equity take above-average leader- legislation that reached his desk. The California Assembly and the ship to work towards solu- Senate both received a D. tions,” said Josina Morita, “The unwillingness to pursue racial equity has real and lasting ef- senior research associate at fects on Californians,” says Jarad Sanchez, policy analyst at ARC and ARC and author of the report. the report’s author. “The Governor claims that the government has “Overcoming institutional racism involves restructuring the distri- to be daring when the need is great. But the boldest legislation that bution of rights and resources in this state.” could have decreased growing racial inequalities was gutted, held in Concurrent with the report card’s release, local ally United committee or vetoed by the Governor himself.” Congress of Community and Religious Organizations hosted a State of Unity town hall meeting in Springfield as part of the Equal Voice for America’s Families Campaign. In addition to Minnesota delivering more than 175 report cards, they also hosted an event Also in January 2008, OAP re- to honor the 17 legislators who received an A, including the six leased the Minnesota Legislative Honor Roll lawmakers. Report Card on Racial Equity “Some elected leaders are creating innovative solutions that 2007. With Gov. Tim Pawlenty take this responsibility seriously,” said Patricia Watkins, co- and the Minnesota legislature founder of the United Congress. “Facing Race helps us hold our sharing an overall grade of D, the leaders accountable to ensure that these initiatives result in real report finds that the legislature change in every part of our state.” has made progress but is still To get copies of these reports, call 510-653-3415, or go to not making the grade in leader- www.arc.org to download PDF versions. ship for racial equity. OAP found that Minnesota is on the verge of a racial inequity crisis, and that American Indi- ans and Blacks are three times more likely to live near or below poverty, even in good economic times. While only 5.9 percent of white Minnesotans lack health insurance, Latinos have an un-insurance rate that is six times higher Facing than whites, American Indians have a rate that is four times higher than whites, and the rate for Blacks is two times higher than whites. In an editorial following the release, the Star Tribune wrote: “Perhaps more important than the report’s call for action on specific legislation is its plea for greater attention to the racial impact of everything state government does.” RACE What’s noteworthy is that just a year prior to this editorial, when a national conference the Organizing Apprenticeship Project released the first Minnesota Legislative Report Card on Racial Equity, the Star Tribune editors, unwilling to acknowledge that policy impacts were a form of institu- Define Justice. tional racism, refused to run an article about the pilot report card that was written and submitted by one of the newspaper’s own reporters. “There is a glaring racial fault line in this state—and it is growing Make Change. wider,” says Jermaine Toney, policy analyst at OAP and the report’s author. “It is important that state leaders are building policies spe- november 13-15, 2008 cifically addressing disparities that impact Minnesotans of color.” oakland marriott city center 1001 Broadway Illinois Oakland, CA 94607 In February, ARC released Facing Race: Illinois Legislative Report Card on Racial Equity 2007-2008. ARC found that although Gov. For more information, visit www.arc.org/facingrace Rod R. Blagojevich and the Illinois General Assembly have initi- or call 510.653.3415. ated and supported several innovative policy measures that advance racial equity, policymakers have yet to remedy some of the state’s sponsored by the applied research center most fundamental inequities that contribute to racial disparities. The

Applied Research Center  Non Profit Org U.S. Postage PAID Oakland, CA Permit #251

APPLIED RESEARCH CENTER 4096 Piedmont Avenue, PMB 319 Oakland, CA 94611-5221

Address Service Requested

P: 510/ 653-3415 F: 510/ 653-3427

www.arc.org

For subscription information and to view recent multimedia features, visit colorlines.com. visit features, multimedia recent view to and information subscription For

om ines.c l r olo www.c

. racewire.org blog, ARC’s

education. Long-time readers will also notice some new features in the magazine and on on and magazine the in features new some notice also will readers Long-time education.

environmental justice, and the May/June issue examines how teenagers are taking back sex sex back taking are teenagers how examines issue May/June the and justice, environmental General Excellence General

Press Award for for Award Press March/April issue focused on green economics, exploring the intersection between racial and and racial between intersection the exploring economics, green on focused issue March/April

UTNE Independent Independent UTNE

people who have moved ideas and pushed for change in organizing, media and the arts. The The arts. the and media organizing, in change for pushed and ideas moved have who people

2007 2007 the of Winner

year with our annual Innovators issue, which honors honors which issue, Innovators annual our with year 11 its entered ColorLines 2008, In

th

Iraqi-born installation artist Wafaa Bilal, and graphic designer Chaz Maviyane-Davies. Chaz designer graphic and Bilal, Wafaa artist installation Iraqi-born

’ arts coverage, which in 2007, featured musicians La Bruja and Tatsu Aoki, Aoki, Tatsu and Bruja La musicians featured 2007, in which coverage, arts ’ ColorLines of note

“quick-hit analysis” of issues that would have otherwise been ignored. Utne also took special special took also Utne ignored. been otherwise have would that issues of analysis” “quick-hit

’ “Rants & Raves” section was hailed for providing providing for hailed was section Raves” & “Rants ’ ColorLines addition, In cities.” American

Nguyen’s cover story, “For Sale: What New Orleans’ housing crisis reveals about race in in race about reveals crisis housing Orleans’ New What Sale: “For story, cover Nguyen’s

’ New Orleans coverage, giving special recognition to former Executive Editor Tram Tram Editor Executive former to recognition special giving coverage, Orleans New ’ ColorLines

first-person account by an Iraq War veteran on the racism of the occupation. Utne also praised praised also Utne occupation. the of racism the on veteran War Iraq an by account first-person

blindness in the healthcare system to a provocative provocative a to system healthcare the in blindness

- color of analysis an from ranged 2007 in published

declared its cover stories “unforgettable.” The stories stories The “unforgettable.” stories cover its declared

the myriad ways race intersects with everyday life and and life everyday with intersects race ways myriad the

for its ability to examine examine to ability its for ColorLines recognized Utne

overlooked by mass media.” media.” mass by overlooked

tive, thought-provoking perspectives often ignored or or ignored often perspectives thought-provoking tive,

- innova provide that publications unnoticed sometimes

The goal of the awards is to “honor the efforts of small, small, of efforts the “honor to is awards the of goal The

material.” the with interaction “day-to-day editors’

the on based winners their chose and publications,

1,300 than more at looked Utne at editors The

to your doorstep for only $24 a year! a $24 only for doorstep your to

. . Policy Foreign and Review Journalism Columbia the

olorLines delivered directly directly delivered olorLines C get and

as publications notable such over winning category,

cribe today cribe s Sub

It was one of eight media outlets nominated for the the for nominated outlets media eight of one was It

Excellence. General for Awards Press Independent

Utne Annual 19 the at laurel top the won politics,

deas f deas I Organizing acial Justice acial R r o

th *

, the national newsmagazine on race and and race on newsmagazine national the , ColorLines

’s ’s RC A zine zine a g a M tne Aw tne U ins W ! d r a Color ines L